Bathurst Orange Inter District Cricket: Five things we learned from round one of the 2020-21 season

And even after just one day of action we're already seeing some interesting developments, and a surprising number of blowout victories.

The reintroduction of one-day matches this season will be a big pressure test for a lot of teams but some squads already looked in the zone during the first Saturday's play.

Here's five takeaways from round one of the BOIDC competition.

THE rock outshone the willow across all five games in the opening round of the competition and it will be worth keeping an eye on several bowlers across these one-day fixtures to start the season.

Only the Orange City versus CYMS clash produced a relatively high-scoring game, while bowlers terrorised batsmen everywhere you looked.

Colts' Dan Casey and Josh Toole bagged nine wickets between them, Rugby Union's Hugh McIntyre claimed a six-wicket haul and a trio of St Pat's bowlers took apart Centennials.

Even though there were five half centuries recorded and only two five wicket hauls from round one it still felt as if batsmen around the grounds were still finding their feet in the competition while the bowlers were really making life difficult for them.

You'd expect to start seeing more 200-plus totals around the grounds over these one-day fixtures as players continue to get their eye in and receive more accurate information about how different pitches are playing.

Time for the batsmen to shake off the rust in the nets over the coming weeks.

EXPECTATIONS on the defending champions are always high and Orange City still lived up to them on Saturday.

CYMS gave them a big scare, thanks to another exceptional knock from Dave Neil, but the City bowlers held their nerve to leave their opponents 11 runs short at the end of the 40 overs.

Lachlan Coyte, who hit three half centuries in the space of four innings to start last BOIDC season, has once again reached 50 on the opening day of the competition - making him one to watch.

Then you look at how strong the rest of the returning batting core is with Shaun Grenfell, Dave Boundy, Blake Weymouth and Ed Morrish to name a few.

Even if you stop a couple of those players then the rest of them have a strong chance to punish you.

OH so close.

A boundary off the last ball was how close Kinross came to claiming an upset win over Rugby Union at Bloomfield Oval on Saturday.

For a team who have stated their main aim in the competition is simply to develop and try to be competitive, they showed that they have the capability to stretch teams to their limit in 2020-21.

Yes, it's true that Dave Hunter shouldered most of the load on the weekend with his marathon knock of 63 (coming within a ball of carrying his bat) but if a couple more players make a stand then the result could have been quite different.

If former Kinross player Hugh McIntyre didn't flick a switch and disintegrate the Orange side's lower order then the school team might have been celebrating instead.

IT'S only a sample size of one game but if City Colts can continue the sort of cricket they showed in Saturday's nine wicket win against Bathurst City then their rivals better look out.

It will be a huge confidence boost for the Colts getting up in round one because it took them months on end to find their first victory in the 2019-20 competition, but more importantly it came in a format they're expected to excel in.

Henry Shoemark and Dave Sellers will be disappointed with the way that they fared with the bat last season so they'll be hoping their century stand can set a standard for both themselves and the rest of the team to follow through the rest of 2020-21.

The ever-reliable Ben Orme of Bathurst City gave Redbacks something positive to take away from the game with his 71, but more players will have to back him up when he starts to tee off.

TALK about living up to the aim you put in place before a game.

If there was one thing captain Adam Ryan wanted to see out of the opening round it was consistent, accurate bowling from his attack - and they delivered.

Mitch Taylor, Hamish Siegert and Matt Fearnley all claimed three wickets in a dominant display, giving everyone an insight into how good the Saints' bowling depth might be this seaosn.

There's great signs for the future of the Saints too with young Angus Parsons shining on first grade debut with his 1-5 from four overs, plus older brother Hugh going an economical 0-10 from five overs.